Hey, I'm finally going to see Tony Rice. The Trenton War Memorial, which is a beautifully renovated concert theatre in Trenton, NJ, has a concert series that features small venue artists who set up on the big stage with their backs to the main hall. The audience sits on chairs on the stage, facing the hall, so everyone is actually on the stage. Seats about 200 and is a great experience. I've seen Rory Block and Tom Rush in this setting. During intermission the artist mingles in the lobby, in the vicinity of their CD table, and it's always very easy to speak with the artist in this casual setting. Can't wait to see what Tony is playing and I assume he will be strung with nickel strings, which I have been curious to hear. I am not really a bluegrass fan but I do appreciate live bluegrass. I guarantee I'll be a fan of bluegrass for a couple of hours tonight!! I'll report back and try to post a pic or two of the guitars.

I saw them together at a BG fest this summer. Great show...Tony did most of the pickin' and Peter did most of the singing. a great combo. at one point, peter broke a string and went backstage to put on a new one..for some reason seemed to take him like 5 minutes...but tony and the mandolyn player (forget who it was) played back and forth the whole time. awesome.

i also wanted to buy a cd and get autographs..but neither would sign them for me. they actually stood 15 feet away from where the cd were sold and turned thier backs to me when I asked the guy who was selling if i could get an autograph. dissapointing...and i put the cd back on the table.

but great show!

Good luck, Randy. Tony often doesn't show up for these gigs. I've been at five festivals in the last three years where Rowan and Rice have been among the billed acts, and Tony has showed up for only two of them. Health problems is usually the stated reason, and perhaps it's true. Hope you get to hear him.

They are the only ones playing so a no-show would be very bad. And he had a chance to win me over. Oh well, at least it's not too far downriver. I was never big on autographs so that's not an issue. I'd rather talk about guitars with them. I wonder if Peter Rowan still sings Panama Red? Maybe Peter needed 5 minutes backstage to smoke a bone.

Randy, definitely let us know how it turns out.

BTW, if your only going to buy one bluegrass CD all year, make it TR's "The Bluegrass Guitar Collection" (assuming its not already in your collection). 21 killer cuts by Tony with a stellar changing cast of great musicians. I could go on and on about this one, but I'll just say: If you don't have it, buy it!

Speaking of "Panama Red" years ago got to see NRPS w/John Dawson on vocals do a nice version of it once at Skippers Smokehouse in Tampa Fla...it's a seafood house O.K.!

He showed up...and he played. Beautiful guitar work. Virtuosity, taste and style. A rare combo. Peter Rowan has a great voice and sang and played some songs he wrote a few by others. A fine show, with a bass player whose name I missed and a few songs with an Italian guitar player named Beppé something. I guess I should know who Beppé is - he was on cloud nine with Tony leaning into him and pushing him on every solo. Tony was more laid back than I expected - they played folk songs until the second set when they opened up and added the bass and second guitar. Tony played a prototype of his new Santa Cruz dread and Peter played a Martin dread. No pickups, only mics and it sounded perfect. Tom, thanks for the tip. I may get that CD. Tony didn't have any merchandise, only Peter. I don't have any bluegrass in my vast collection so that may be the place to start. Actually, they only played 3 or 4 bluegrass songs, which were real showcases for Tony and Beppé. So glad he showed, I was a little nervous after B's warning but he didn't dare dis' NJ. Trenton no less.

Randy, you hit the jackpot! If Beppe was Beppe Gambetta, you saw one smokin good show indeed. Seeing either one in a small enviornment would be great, but together, that is awesome. There's a duets CD by Dan Crary where he brings in a number of guests; TR, Doc, Norman......you get the picture. The duet with Beppe is one of the best on that stellar recording.

Ya gotta love Beppe! And Tony! I've been fortunate to see Beppe in several small venues and he's so personal. And his twist on "bluegrass" flatpicking is refreshing.

Regarding Tony's Guitar Collection: I borrowed it from someone and listening through the long collection of tunes and to my ear they didn't seem to mesh well together...it was almost too much. But I think this is because I'd heard all of the tunes in their original settings, in sequence with the other songs on the recordings. I dunno, maybe it's just me... But I'd recommend Unit of Measure as a good variety of Tony's playing. Shenandoah, Danny Boy, and High Noon are solo and the tone is to die for...crank it up. There's some swing (Swing 42) and The House of the Rising Sun, several fiddle tunes and Tony's original Manzanita.

Glad you had a great show Randy!

Eric

I never saw a performer happier than Beppé. He did not take that big smile off his face the entire time he was soloing. Tony was very quiet, except when Beppé was soloing, calling out words of encouragment. And what a great venue. If any of you live close enough you should catch a show on the Partriot Stage. Woody Mann is the host of the show - he always plays a couple of blues tunes and then plays a song or two with the featured act. Last night he smoked a solo with the band.
I have tickets for Chris Smither at this venue on May 15th (?). Hope you NJ/PA Forumites can make it.
BTW, Rice and Rowan did not mingle with the crowd during intermission. Damn.

Eric, I hear ya. Since "The Bluegrass Guitar Collection" is a "greatest hits" type format, it doesn't have the "flow" you'd expect from an individual CD. But for someone who doesn't have any TR in his collection, it's a great way to get exposed to a whole lot of TR's incredible playing. For example, it gives you two classic duets with Norman Blake, TR's hyperdrive playing on "Monroe's Hornpipe", the solo on "Whitewater" from Bela Fleck's "Drive", etc.

OK, so here's the solution: Randy, get both "The Bluegrass Guitar Collection" and "Unit of Measure", sit back and then enjoy listening to a true master player at work. Hey, as long as we're at it, pick up Bryan Sutton's "Not too Far from the Tree". Everything on that one is incredible, including Bryan's two smokin duets with Tony. I've had more listening time with NTFFTT then any other acoustic CD this year. In fact, its the only CD I actually bought twice, one for the home system and one for a permanent position in the car CD changer rotation. Well, now that I think about it, I also have four different recording formats of Miles' "Kind of Blue", but that's another story

If you aren't a big bluegrasser but you want to get into Tony Rice, you should check out Church Street Blues. It has almost a singer songwriter feel to it, but he slips in some killer versions of Cattle In The Cane, Jerusalem's Ridge, and Gold Rush. It's just Tony singing and playing guitar with his brother Wyatt joining in on rhythm on a few songs.

By the way, how about the lead that Tony plays on "Birdland Breakdown" from the Bluegrass Guitar Collection? That's some insane playing.